Conflict Study - Mme Lagrandeur



Conflict Study[pic]

Conflict - is any struggle, internal or external, between fictional characters, forces or emotions, usually between the protagonist and someone or something else.

In order for a story to move forward, a conflict between the protagonist (main character) and another force needs to take place and be resolved. If the protagonist does not experience any conflict or struggle, there would be no need to continue with the story because the reader would not be interested in the upcoming events. Other characters in the story may experience a conflict as well. Virtually every story has a conflict.

[pic]Complete the following assignment and submit your work to your teacher.

Now that you understand the elements of conflict...

...imagine a short story where Jessica wakes up with a big smile on her face. Padding through a beautiful old house, she comes into the kitchen to be greeted by her loving parents and her younger brother, Kevin, who asks her if she'd like some of the homemade blueberry pancakes that he made, just five minutes ago.

As she walks to school, the spring sun shines down on her. Her neighbours, the Mouseau family, drive by in their electric, non-polluting car and wave. Jessica waves back, smiling.

At school she attends her classes, getting back tests and assignments that she aced! Her English teacher, Mr. Wolfraim tells her that she's his favourite student. At lunch she holds hands with her boyfriend Sam in the cafeteria.

After school she scores three times in the city championship soccer game. Her team wins and they go out for pizza to celebrate. Later, in bed, she falls off to sleep with a big smile on her face.

Consider the Jessica story. It lacks conflict, doesn't it?

It's boring.

Think about the story and recommend three examples of conflict, one from each category that would make the story more interesting .

• #1 should be Person vs. Person

• #2 should be a Person vs. Self

• #3 should be Person vs. Environment

Record your ideas, matching the above order, as an MP3 file. Organize your thoughts. Be detailed. The file should be about one minute. You might want to do this at home or at a local library. Some MP3 players have microphones - it should be easy. Present/share your audio file with your teacher and classmates

Now, re-write the Jessica story (150-200 words) so that it is shaped by all three types of conflict.

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